Ha’aretz reports that haredi-controlled media in Israel – including HaModia, Yated Ne’eman, and Kol Hai have not mentioned the nature of the charges (in HaModia’s case, the indictment itself was not mentioned) against Israel’s now-indicted president, Moshe Katsav. Why? Because haredim want to keep their media "clean". Here is one haredi example from the article:

…The religious radio station Kol Hai’s news bulletins have been covering the Katsav affair since the attorney general’s announcement Tuesday, but broadcasters, reporters and commentators have been ordered not to mention the nature of the charges or say words like "sexual harassment," "rape" and "abuse."

Interviewees are also warned not to use those terms on the air.

The channel did not broadcast the recent news conferences live, but only after offensive phrases had been deleted.

"When a father sits in his car with his children listening to the news, my job is to protect the children and not use terms alien to the children’s pure world," said Mordechai Lavi, the radio’s main news broadcaster.…

A friend who has worked extensively with New York City haredi communities told me one of the biggest in dealing with haredi abuse cases is that victims, especially those from Williamsburgh, Kiryas Joel and New Square, lack the vocabulary to explain what it is that has happened to them. There are often no Yiddish words for what has happened to them, even for some body parts. They are hurt and confused, and this additional burden makes comming forward that much harder. (So does, my friend is quick to add, is the communal and rabbinic pressure to stay silent.)

Haredim need to realize this extreme ghettoization often does not protect children; instead, it hurts them.

2 responses to “Not A Word About Sex (Or Rape, Or Abuse)”

There are in fact Yiddish words for all body parts & all life situations. (See: “Born to Kvetch.”) Yiddish is a fully developed language. Shakespeare has been translated into Yiddish. The problem is, is that the current Ultra-Ortho generation of Yiddish speakers are in fact undereducated, even in their own linguistic heritage. They don’t read the Singer brothers, Peretz, Sholom Aleichem, or Mendele. (It’s all “apikorsus”). Previous generations of Yiddish speakers, even the mildly Orthodox, were more literate, urbane and sophisticated. Rather than preserve classical Yiddish, the black hats are promoting an impoverished Yiddish Newspeak.

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